Rupees slip 8 paise to 70.49 against USD on rising crude oil

Mumbai, Jan 11 () The Indian rupee Friday weakened by 8 paise to
close at 70.49 against the US dollar on rise in demand for the
American currency from exporters coupled with unabated rise in
global crude oil prices. Besides, foreign fund outflows and
stronger dollar against its key rival currencies impacted the rupee
trading pattern. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the rupee
opened strong at 70.38 a dollar against the previous close of
70.41. The local unit moved in a range of 70.34 to 70.59, before
finally ending at 70.49, showing a loss of 8 paise. On Thursday,
the rupee ticked higher by 5 paise to close at 70.41 per US dollar.
"Rupee becomes the worst performing currency among Asian basket as
foreigners continued selling domestic equity and debt. Oil
importers rush for dollar after crude oil back in to bull market
(gained 24 per cent since mid-December)," said V K Sharma, Head PCG
& Capital Markets Strategy, HDFC Securities. The dollar index,
which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six
currencies, dipped 0.23 per cent to 95.31 in late afternoon trade.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, was trading at USD 61.83 per
barrel, higher by 0.24 per cent. Brent crude was trading near USD
62 barrel and as a result, the Indian rupee depreciated further,
said Sunil Sharma, Chief Investment Officer, Sanctum Wealth
Management. Meanwhile, foreign funds sold shares worth Rs 687.20
crore on a net basis Friday, while domestic institutional investors
bought equities to the tune of Rs 123.17 crore, provisional data
showed. The Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the
reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 70.4737 and for rupee/euro
at 81.2083. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at
89.9155 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 65.03. DRR MKJ